Muskego Lakes Family Newsletter

• Muskego Lakes Middle School Website
• Muskego Lakes Academic Guidebook for 2021-22
• Muskego Lakes Report a Concern

• MLMS PTO Meeting - Jan 19th at 6:30pm

• End of Quarter 2 - Jan. 20th

• Muskego High School Course Information Night - Wednesday, January 26th

• 8th Grade Course Meetings with MHS Counselors- Jan. 28th at MLMS

• 8th Grade Pep Band Game with MHS Band- Jan. 28th at MHS

• Title I Parent Info & Feedback Meeting- Feb. 16th at 6pm

• MLMS Community Day- Feb. 18th

• Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences- Feb. 24th
  

• Lion King Musical - April 2-3rd

Dear Muskego Lakes Families,

We've had a lot of exciting things happening this week here at Muskego Lakes. Some of the highlights from this week are our 6-8th grade choirs performing at their winter concert, 8th grade science classrooms learning how to make ice cream, students leading activities in classes 5-8, our Muskies United group in action planning their first initiative as student leaders, and celebrating the successful seasons of our 7th and 8th-grade boys' basketball teams.

With all these great things going on, it's hard to believe that the end of the second quarter is quickly approaching next week! With that in mind, we also want to express that it is an important time to sit down and take a look at Infinite Campus with your child.

We recommend looking for missing assignments, upcoming assessments, and project deadlines. And, we encourage your child to check in with his or her teachers if there are any questions about their grades before the quarter ends.

In addition, at Muskego Lakes, all students keep online portfolios called Standards of Focus trackers. They are empowered to track their progress on key standards in both literacy and math on their portfolios. If you haven't yet, check in with your child about their "SOF Tracker' to learn even more about how your child is progressing as a learner.

Thanks for all the ways you partner with us to support your child in his/her academic achievement!

With love,

Rachel Rydzewski & Nancy Pasch

Muskego Lakes Principals

Is there a member of the Muskego Lakes staff who has been especially kind? helpful? Is there someone at Muskego Lakes who goes above and beyond for you and/or your child?

We will once again be honoring members of staff nominated for Musky Awards. Please consider nominating a teacher, instructional aide, custodian, interventionist, general aide, instructional coach, SRO, building guest teacher, athletic coach, club lead, student teacher, intern, or member of the office staff, student services staff, library and technology staff, nurse aide team, and/or Taher team.

To nominate a staff member please complete the short nomination form here. We will be taking nominations until January, 19th 2022. Thank you for helping us honor our staff here at Muskego Lakes!

Thank you for all the ways you help us by getting your child to school each day. Thank you for doing your best to schedule appointments outside of school hours. And should your child have an appointment, thank you for bringing them to school until the scheduled appointment and/or returning them to school after the appointment. In addition, thanks to our many families who plan vacations in line with our District calendar.

Our role as a school is to partner with families to help you stay updated on your child's overall attendance. Even as children grow older and more independent, families play a key role in ensuring students regularly attend school.

Important to know is that parents/guardians can legally excuse their child from school for no more than 10 days in a school year (including vacations). So, when your child misses 5 days of school, 7 days of school, and 10 days of school- they will receive a notification letter from school. The purpose of the letters is to keep you updated on the number of days they have been out of school.

Once your child has been out for 10 days, our District policy requires a doctor's excuse for any additional absences.

We understand that COVID-19 has played a significant role in your decisions as parents about keeping your kids home and/or sending them to school. We appreciate the precautions families take to keep themselves and our community healthy. Important to note is that absences that are COVID-19 related (a confirmed case or awaiting test results) will not be counted in overall attendance counts.

Should your child be struggling to come to school, please reach out so we can support both you and your child.

A few tips to support your child in regularly attending school:

• Maintain structure at home with a predictable bedtime to ensure your child is getting enough sleep.
• Set expectations for technology use during the night time hours.
• Support your child's morning routine, ensuring he/she has enough time in the morning to eat breakfast and prepare for the day.
• Encourage your child to come to school each day, making sure they know they can see the school nurse if they do not feel well.
• Be aware that missing school can cause anxiety and stress due to missing class and/or falling behind. Make sure when your child does miss that he/she checks in with teachers to know what was missed.
• Reach out to school staff if your child is having an issue with another student, struggling in a class, or if there is any school-related reason why your child is not wanting to attend school. We are here to help!

At Muskego Lakes, we conduct annual safety drills so that our students know what to expect in the event of an emergency. Some of the drills/searches that we conduct here at Muskego Lakes are:

• Safety Walks - A school team performs monthly walks to ensure doors are secure, no potential hazards or issues are unaddressed, and ensure that our building remains protected at all times.
• Hall Clearings - In the event of a health related incident where a student would need privacy, students and staff practice clearing the halls and remaining in classrooms so learning can continue.
• Fire Drills - Students and staff practice evacuating the building to designated locations.
• Tornado Drills - In case of inclement weather, staff and students practice knowing where to report and once there, review expected behaviors to ensure students' safety when a severe storm or tornado warning occurs.
• Lockdown Drills - Rather than simulating a lockdown drill, as principals, we coordinate facilitated conversations so that students and staff can talk about what they would do in the event of a threat in the school. This means, instead of hiding and/or barricading doors, students engage in conversation about what they would do and where they would go depending on the location of a threat.
• Metal Detector Drills - in partnership with the Muskego Police Department, one bus is randomly selected for a metal detector drill. Students then walk through metal detectors, have their belongings searched, and the Muskego Police Department use wands to further ensure no prohibited items are permitted in the school.
• Canine Searches - in partnership with the Muskego Police Department, we conduct a sweep of our building with the support of a canine to ensure our schools remain drug-free.

Please feel free to reach out to principals Rachel Rydzewski or Nancy Pasch if you have questions regarding any of our safety measures at Muskego Lakes.

All students in grades 5 - 7 will be recieved their course registration forms this past week for the 2022-2023 school year. Mrs. Hake, our school counselor presented the information to our students about the electives and how to register for those elective choices. Descriptions of all of the courses are in our 2022-23 Middle School Academic Guidebook for you to review with your child.

Please note that when students are selecting their elective classes, the online portion must be completed through the student's Infinite Campus account. While directions are being provided on how to register online, please know that some students have changed their Infinite Campus passwords and are not their original passwords as stated on the direction sheet. If a student does not remember their Infinite Campus password, please have them go to the Student Services office or the main office to have their accounts reset to their original passwords.

Online course registration for 5th, 6th and 7th graders is due by Wednesday January 19th. Course selection, (program) cards need to be completed and signed by a parent/guardian by Wednesday, January 19th as well. There is not a "save" button when online registration is complete and we do not want you to print the online information.

Eighth grade students received a second copy of the course registration worksheet this past week as well. A reminder that Muskego High school counselors will be meeting with students in person this year, not virtual, on January 28th. Parents may also want to go with their student to Course Information Night on January 26th, from 5:00-8:00PM to meet with teachers and learn more about the courses being offered at Muskego High School.

If you have any questions, please contact Janine Hake, school counselor, at 262-971-1860, ext. 5401 or janine.hake@muskegonorway.org.

Muskego-Norway Schools invites you to participate in a three part parent education series on the prevention of Alcohol and Other Drug Addictions in youth. Click HERE To learn more about this educational series. Featured presentations are as follows:

• Michelle Hampton: Therapist at Rogers Child and Adolescent Center - January 10th
• Your Choice, Wake Up Call: Learn to Spot the Signs of Alcohol and Drug Use - February 22nd
• Muskego Police Department: Community Impact of Substance Use- - March 17th

All presentations will be held at the Performing Arts Center, located on the south end of Muskego High School at 6pm. Additionally, presentations will be recorded and shared on the District’s website.

All ordering of yearbooks is done directly through Jostens. To check if you ordered a yearbook, you should create an account with Jostens. By creating an account, you can check anytime during the year to see if you have ordered one. Important to know is that after you successfully purchase the yearbook, you will receive a confirmation email.

You can still purchase a yearbook, and If you are interested in your student having a yearbook, you can order through this online link.

The MLMS PTO wants to thank the excellent staff for everything they do by providing midweek munchies. Every Wednesday, you have an opportunity to sign up to bring in munchies for the staff to help them make it through the week and brighten their day. If you are interested in supporting this, please sign up here.

Please consider joining the Muskego Lakes PTO. We meet monthly in the MLMS library. We always welcome new faces and would love to hear your ideas in how we can make this an amazing school year ahead!!

MLMS PTO Meeting Dates for 2021-2022

• January 19, 2022 @ 6:30pm
• February 16, 2022 @ 6:30pm
• March 16, 2022 @ 6:30pm
• April 20, 2022 @ 6:30pm
• May 18, 2022 @ 6:30pm

Our staff at Muskego Lakes take threats seriously. We are grateful for our partnership with students and parents as they continue to be invested in their school culture as we all work together to keep our schools safe. We encourage all families to talk about how a child should respond to any threat or concern, regardless of the source or legitimacy. If a student or parent is not comfortable going directly to a district staff member, they can use Wisconsin's Speak Up, Speak Out that will notify a school administrator and/or police authorities immediately. Speak Up, Speak Out! Speak Up, Speak Out is managed by the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of School Safety.

You may make a report by visiting the website, using your smartphone by downloading the SPEAK UP, SPEAK OUT app from the Apple Store and Google Play, or by calling 1-800-MY-SUSO-1 to speak to a resource center analyst.

Family Weekly Test Kits

• To opt into this program, please complete our online form by clicking here.

COVID-19 Exposure Notification

• Please to submit the follow form if you, your child, or anyone in your household has been exposed to and/or is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. (Form: COVID-19 SYMPTOM OR STATUS NOTIFICATION FORM. After completing the form, someone from Health Services will be in touch with you about next steps.

Parent COVID-19 FAQ

• You can find any and all information related to COVID-19 and our response in the PARENT COVID-19 FAQ. Please take a look there before reaching out to the Health Services team.

For all other questions related to COVID-19, please refer to the MNS Health Services website for the latest health information including but not limited to COVID-19 guidelines, Illness and Injury guidelines, Immunizations, Forms, and other useful information.

We encourage you to follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

Website: https://www.muskegonorway.org/schools/muskegolakes/
Location: W124 S8009 North Cape Rd.
Phone: 262-971-1860
Twitter: @MLMSmuskies